United States Secretary of State

The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet.

Congress created the position of Secretary of State on July 27, 1789 (1 Stat. 28), as the principal officer of the Department of Foreign Affairs (later renamed Department of State). The Secretary was to perform such duties as the President required, in accordance with the United States Constitution, relating to correspondence, commission, or instructions to U.S. ministers or consuls abroad, and to conduct negotiations with foreign representatives. The Secretary has also served as principal adviser to the President in the determination and execution of U.S. foreign policy and in recent decades has become responsible for overall direction, coordination, and supervision of interdepartmental activities of the U.S. Government overseas, except for certain military activities.

As the highest ranking Cabinet member, the Secretary of State is fourth in line to succeed the Presidency, after the Vice President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and President pro tempore of the Senate. (See the entire Presidential line of succession).

Secretaries of State
Name	Term of Office	President(s) served under
Thomas Jefferson	March 22, 1790 - December 31, 1793	George Washington
Edmund Randolph[?]	January 2, 1794 - August 20, 1795	George Washington
Timothy Pickering[?]	December 10, 1795 - May 12, 1800	George Washington, John Adams
John Marshall	June 6, 1800 - February 4, 1801	John Adams
James Madison	May 2, 1801 - March 3, 1809	Thomas Jefferson
Robert Smith	March 6, 1809 - April 1, 1811	James Madison
James Monroe	April 6, 1811 - September 30, 1814 February 28, 1815 - March 3, 1817	James Madison
John Quincy Adams	September 22, 1817 - March 3, 1825	James Monroe
Henry Clay	March 7, 1825 - March 3, 1829	John Quincy Adams
Martin Van Buren	March 28, 1829 - March 23, 1831	Andrew Jackson
Edward Livingston	May 24, 1831 - May 29, 1833	Andrew Jackson
Louis McLane[?]	May 29, 1833 - June 30, 1834	Andrew Jackson
John Forsyth[?]	July 1, 1834 - March 3, 1841	Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren
Daniel Webster	March 6, 1841 - May 8, 1843	William Henry Harrison, John Tyler
Abel P. Upshur[?]	July 24, 1843 - February 28, 1844	John Tyler
John C. Calhoun	April 1, 1844 - March 10, 1845	John Tyler, James K. Polk
James Buchanan	March 10, 1845 - March 7, 1849	James K. Polk, Zachary Taylor
John Clayton[?]	March 8, 1849 - July 22, 1850	Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore
Daniel Webster	July 23, 1850 - October 24, 1852	Millard Fillmore
Edward Everett[?]	November 6, 1852 - March 3, 1853	Millard Fillmore
William L. Marcy[?]	March 8, 1853 - March 6, 1857	Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan
Lewis Cass	March 6, 1857 - December 14, 1860	James Buchanan
Jeremiah S. Black[?]	December 17, 1860 - March 5, 1861	James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward	March 6, 1861 - March 4, 1869	Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson
Elihu P. Washburne[?]	March 5, 1869 - March 16, 1869	Ulysses S. Grant
Hamilton Fish[?]	March 17, 1869 - March 12, 1877	Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes
William M. Evarts[?]	March 12, 1877 - March 7, 1881	Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield
James G. Blaine	March 7, 1881 - December 19, 1881	James Garfield, Chester A. Arthur
Frederick T. Frelinghuysen	December 19, 1881 - March 6, 1885	Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland
Thomas F. Bayard	March 7, 1885 - March 6, 1889	Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison
James G. Blaine	March 7, 1889 - June 4, 1892	Benjamin Harrison
John W. Foster[?]	June 29, 1892 - February 23, 1893	Benjamin Harrison
Walter Q. Gresham[?]	March 7, 1893 - May 28, 1895	Grover Cleveland
Richard Olney[?]	June 10, 1895 - March 5, 1897	Grover Cleveland, William McKinley
John Sherman	March 6, 1897 - April 27, 1898	William McKinley
William R. Day[?]	April 28, 1898 - September 16, 1898	William McKinley
John Hay	September 30, 1898 - July 1, 1905	William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt
Elihu Root[?]	July 19, 1905 - January 27, 1909	Theodore Roosevelt
Robert Bacon[?]	January 27, 1909 - March 5, 1909	Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft
Philander C. Knox[?]	March 6, 1909 - March 5, 1913	William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson
William Jennings Bryan	March 5, 1913 - June 9, 1915	Woodrow Wilson
Robert Lansing	June 24, 1915 - February 13, 1920	Woodrow Wilson
Bainbridge Colby[?]	March 23, 1920 - March 4, 1921	Woodrow Wilson
Charles Evans Hughes	March 5, 1921 - March 4, 1925	Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge
Frank B. Kellogg	March 5, 1925 - March 28, 1929	Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover
Henry L. Stimson	March 28, 1929 - March 4, 1933	Herbert Hoover
Cordell Hull[?]	March 4, 1933 - November 30, 1944	Franklin D. Roosevelt
E. R. Stettinius[?], Jr.[?]	December 1, 1944 - June 27, 1945	Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman
James F. Byrnes[?]	July 3, 1945 - January 21, 1947	Harry S. Truman
George C. Marshall	January 21, 1947 - January 20, 1949	Harry S. Truman
Dean Acheson	January 21, 1949 - January 20, 1953	Harry S. Truman
John Foster Dulles	January 21, 1953 - April 22, 1959	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Christian Herter	April 22, 1959 - January 20, 1961	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dean Rusk	January 21, 1961 - January 20, 1969	John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson
William P. Rogers[?]	January 22, 1969 - September 3, 1973	Richard M. Nixon
Henry A. Kissinger	September 22, 1973 - January 20, 1977	Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford
Cyrus Vance	January 23, 1977 - April 28, 1980	Jimmy Carter
Edmund S. Muskie[?]	May 8, 1980 - January 18, 1981	Jimmy Carter
Alexander M. Haig[?], Jr.[?]	January 22, 1981 - July 5, 1982	Ronald Reagan
George P. Shultz	July 16, 1982 - January 20, 1989	Ronald Reagan
James Baker	January 25, 1989 - August 23, 1992	George H. W. Bush
Lawrence Eagleburger[?]	December 8, 1992 - January 19, 1993	George H. W. Bush
Warren Christopher[?]	January 20, 1993 - January 17, 1997	Bill Clinton
Madeleine Albright	January 23, 1997 - January 19, 2001	Bill Clinton
Colin Powell	January 20, 2001 - present	George W. Bush

If the Secretary resigns[?], he is replaced by the United States Deputy Secretary of State[?] who then becomes acting Secretary of State until the President and Congress approve a formal replacement.

Acting Secretaries of State
Name	Year	Acted from
John Jay	1790	March 4-22
Timothy Pickering[?]	1795	August 20 to December 9
Charles Lee	1800	May 13 to June 5
John Marshall	1801	February 4 to March 4
Levi Lincoln[?]	1801	March 5 to May 1
John Graham[?]	1817	March 4-9
Richard Rush[?]	1817	March 10 to September 22
Daniel Brent[?]	1825	March 4-7
James A. Hamilton[?]	1829	March 4-27
Jacob L. Martin[?]	1841	March 4-5
Hugh S.Legaré[?]	1843	May 9 to June 20
William S. Derrick[?]	1843	June 21-23
Abel P. Upshur[?]	1843	June 24 to July 23
John Nelson[?]	1844	February 29 to March 31,
Charles M. Conrad[?]	1852	October 25 to November 5
William Hunter	1853, 1860	March 4-7, December 15-16
William F. Wharton[?]	1892, 1893	June 4-29, February 24 to March 6
Edwin F. Uhl[?]	1895	May 28 to June 9
Alvey A. Adee[?]	1898	September 17-29
Francis B. Loomis[?]	1905	July 1-18
Robert Lansing	1915	June 9-23
Frank L. Polk[?]	1920	February 14 to March 12
Joseph C. Crew[?]	1945	June 28 to July 3
H. Freeman Matthews[?]	1953	January 20-21
Livingston T. Merchant[?]	1961	January 20-21
Charles E. Bohlen[?]	1969	January 20-22
Kenneth Rush[?]	1973	September 3-22
Philip C. Habib[?]	1977	January 20-23
Warren Christopher[?]	1980, 1980	April 28 to May 2, May 4-8
David Newsom[?]	1980	May 2-3, May 3-4
Richard N. Cooper[?]	1980	May 3
Walter J. Stoessel, Jr.[?]	1982	July 5-16
Michael H. Armacost[?]	1989	January 20-25
Lawrence Eagleburger[?]	1992	August 23, to December 8
Arnold Lee Kantor[?]	1993	January 20
Frank G. Wisner[?]	1993	January 20

External Link

List of Secretaries of State (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/po/1682.htm)

Common misspelling and questions (FAQ)

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